Shadow People
by YourResidentSwiftie
Summary: Something is out for revenge against its killers, but hurting them directly isn't what it wants; it want to see its killers suffer by going after their children. It started with nightmares, then Carrie Collins and Sam Glass started seeing the ghosts of dead vampires, the Shadow People. Vampires their parents had killed. But how do you get rid of something that's already dead?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: ****I really need opinions on this. I started writing it months ago and I only decided to publish it on a whim. I have the full story finished (although I'll probably tweak bits before I upload each chapter). This chapter is more of an introduction to the characters. Reviews will be highly appreciated for this **

Chapter 1

_**Claire's POV**_

I heard Shane groan and roll over beside me as Carrie, our three-year-old daughter, jumped on him to wake him up. I laughed under my breath at him and held open my arms for Carrie to fall into.

"Good morning, Miss Carrie," I said as she lay her head on my arm.

"Morning," she sang.

She rolled onto her side and, looking me in the eye, said "We're going to get ice cream today."

I laughed at her and raised my eyebrows.

"Oh, really? I didn't know about this."

"That's because I just decided," she said, matter-of-factly. I smiled at her and looked up at Shane who was trying to roll back over without Carrie noticing. Just as she was about to turn to him, Shane grabbed her and started to tickle her, both of them laughing hysterically.

"Daddy! Daddy, stop!" she yelled. Her and I both knew Shane wouldn't stop.

"Promise not to wake me up?" he asked, grinning down at her.

Carrie grinned back, and she was the spitting image of Shane when she did that. They both had tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks and were trying to catch their breath. Shane raised his eyebrows as if to ask the question again, to which Carrie nodded and said: "I promise."

"So… ice cream?" I asked and Carrie jumped up, treading on Shane's arm in the process. Luckily, barefoot three-year-olds don't do much damage.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" she jumped down from the bed and ran back to her own room.

After a few minutes of just lying there enjoying the peace and quiet, Shane looked over at me and smiled, puling me into his chest in a hug. I breathed in his scent and raised my head to meet his lips. It was only a short kiss, interrupted by multiple 'get up I need ice cream's from Carrie. For a three-year-old, she could be extremely demanding.

Just then, I heard my phone buzz on the dresser on the other side of the room and I sighed, silently praying that it was just Eve or Michael, or my mom or dad and not someone like Amelie or Myrnin. In an attempt to get Shane and me out of bed Carrie ran off with it. I rolled my eyes and heard Shane start counting backwards from ten. Not because he was trying to calm down, but because we knew she'd come back. Sure enough, by the time he got to zero, she'd come running back in and was reading the screen.

"Eve! It's Eve!" she said, looking proud of herself for being able to read the name on the screen. I held out my hand and she placed the phone in it.

"Thank you, honey," I said, getting her best smile back in return.

I noticed that she'd started to get herself dressed, and so far had socks on, one inside out, shorts that weren't done up and her pyjama top. It was an odd ensemble. Shane bent down to do the shorts up, and then sat her on his lap to sort her socks out while I read the message from Eve.

_Hey CB,_

_Sam and Ellie are bored out of their minds._

_Want to do something with them and Carrie today?_

_Love ya,_

_Eve_

I rolled my eyes at how Eve still called me CB (short for Claire Bear) even though I was 25. Shaking my head at her, I started to write a reply.

_Hey Eve,_

_We're taking Carrie out for ice cream if you'd like to join us. I'm sure she wouldn't mind. Also, it isn't cool calling a 25 year old a nickname ending in 'Bear'. It wasn't cute/cool when I was sixteen._

_Claire._

I knew I'd get a lecture for telling her off for calling me Claire Bear, but I didn't care. I looked over at Carrie, who was now sat in an almost acceptable outfit, besides the pyjama top.

"Is it okay if Sam and Ellie come with us to get ice cream?" I asked.

She looked up from the game she was playing on Shane's phone. "Are they? Yay!"

Before I could do much more that chuckle at Carrie's reply, my phone buzzed again. This time it was a message from Michael.

_Hey Kiddo,_

_Eve says stop telling her what to do. She says it was adorable when you were sixteen and still is, although, granted, Carrie has taken some of the adorability from you, but she's 3 and you're not._

_Michael (technically Eve as she told me what to say, but I'm not supposed to admit that)_

As I got to the end of the message, another one came through, again from Michael.

_Also, we'd love to join you guys for ice cream. Meet you there._

I shut off my phone and, leaving Shane and Carrie debating whether the Big Bad Wolf could actually blow down a house made of straw or sticks, went to grab a shower before we went out.

_**Shane's POV**_

"So, you're telling me that the Big Bad Wolf could not, in fact, blow down two of the Little Pigs' houses?" I asked.

"Yes. His breath would not be strong enough, because the sticks and the straw would be stuck together otherwise it would just fall down!"

I'll admit, I didn't really know how to respond to that, so I just sat and let her explain why the Big Bad Wolf can't blow down a house made of sticks and a house made of straw. Carrie had definitely inherited at least some of Claire's brains.

"…Even if he could, it would take him a loooooong time and the Little Pig would be able to run away, so there would be no point in trying. He should just knock on the door," she said, so matter-of-factly that I wondered if anyone _wouldn't _believe her.

She jumped down off my lap and picked up her book to show me the pictures in it.

"Look, that breath is not strong enough to blow down a house. It wouldn't even blow down one stick or piece of straw," she said, pointing at the Wolf's breath, and then the houses.

"Okay, I believe you," I said, and she turned to give me a hug.

I'd just finished changing Carrie out of her pyjama shirt when Claire walked in and asked if we were ready to go. To which Carrie responded by running down the stairs to put shoes on and then jumping up and down by the front door.

_**Michael's POV**_

We met Claire, Shane and Carrie outside the ice cream shop, and Carrie immediately started talking to Eve about the Three Little Pigs story and the Big Bad Wolf. Eve looked slightly confused, but very amused at the way Carrie was criticising a who-knows-how-old children's story. Claire just gave me a look and mouthed 'all morning'.

"Hi, Carrie," I said cheerfully, interrupting her flow of words. She hadn't stopped talking since she learnt how, and I really did feel sorry for Shane and Claire sometimes. Not because she was annoying or anything like that, but because a lot of what she said was so… _out there_ that sometimes that even Claire, the smartest person most of us had ever met, couldn't come up with anything to respond with. It's a little bit of a self-esteem let down when a toddler can outsmart you.

She looked up at me, waved, and went back to talking about the Three Little Pigs. I had Ellie, mine and Eve's two-year-old daughter, in my arms and Sam, our son, had gone to Shane's side and they were talking about baseball.

"Oh, by the way, I'm not a kid," Claire said. It took me a second to understand what she was talking about, but then I remembered that I'd addressed her as _Kiddo _in a text earlier.

"Force of habit. Sorry," I said. Claire rolled her eyes and, after a '_what am I supposed to say?' _look from Eve, tried to shut her daughter up by distracting her with the list of ice cream flavours.

_**Eve's POV**_

When we got in the ice cream shop, Shane, Carrie and me went up to order while the others found a seat. Shane picked Carrie up so she could see over the counter.

"What can I get you guys?" the guy serving, his nametag read Brad, asked us.

"Everything," Carrie replied. Brad chuckled and so did a few other people queuing behind us.

"Alright, so everything for you, what about the rest of you?" he asked Shane and me.

"If I've had everything they can't have anything," Carrie said. Brad looked thrown for a second, like he didn't know what to say. He also looked a little ashamed that he hadn't thought of that.

"Carrie, don't get smart with him," Shane warned while putting her back down, "go sit with mommy."

She frowned but ran off to sit with Claire. She may talk a lot, but that girl has no time for arguing with people. She's _so _Claire's daughter.

After the struggle to get everyone's ice cream to the table, we actually had quite a fun afternoon. The kids were testing our patience quite a bit, but you gotta love them for trying to sneak onto the playground outside the shop. Carrie had dropped the subject of whether or not the Big Bad Wolf could blow down houses and was now criticising Shane's ability to get a hair cut.

"But daddy, it's too long. It's nearly as long as mine!" not true, because her chestnut-brown hair was halfway down her back, but being me I found it hilarious having someone else insult him for once, especially his own daughter. I thought they didn't reach the insulting stage until they were teenagers. He just stuck his tongue out at her and took some of her ice cream. She then took all of his and they ended it with a prisoner's exchange and an eye roll from Claire.

_**Later On in the Day**_

"Seriously, though, wanna swap?" Claire asked me as we made dinner. She was talking about the food we were preparing; she had the onions.

"Kids or husband?" I joked, winking.

"Both," we both laughed and got back to cooking.

"You're outta luck, Claire Bear. My husband is way more awesome than yours and, okay Carrie is adorable, but… I'm not smart enough for her," I said.

"Um, I'm pretty sure Shane is better than Michael. And all you gotta do with Carrie is nod along and ask her why she thinks things," after a pause she said slowly and with a lot of thought, "They like to gang up on me…"

"I _have _to see that," and we both laughed again. Ellie waddled in looking lost.

"What's up, sweetie?" I asked her. Her blonde hair was bordering on an Afro at the moment. It needed a brush and some hair straighteners, but she's two and Michael said that, no, I absolutely cannot straighten our two-year-old daughter's hair. So I told him that it's his fault her hair is curly anyway. He had no comeback. Eve, 1, Michael, 0. Depending on when you're counting scores from.

"I tired," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She was still learning to talk.

"Aw, dinner's nearly ready, honey. You can take a nap after that if you want,"  
>"I go sleepies now," she said and raised her arms, silently asking me to pick her up. So I carried her into the living room and gave her to Michael. She curled up on his lap and grabbed a worn out teddy bear, one of Carrie's, who quickly came to its rescue before Ellie could start chewing the ear or something.<p>

_**Claire's POV**_

After Eve and Michael had left, I helped Shane tidy up the kitchen while Carrie picked out a bedtime story.

"So, tonight are we going to hear why snowmen can't magically come to life and fly?" Shane asked with a smile as he finished putting the last of the plates away. He loved it when Carrie went off on a tangent about books, even if he didn't know what to say to it half the time.

"Don't be stupid, Carrie only reads seasonal books. She wouldn't read a book about a snowman in the summer," I joked.

"Ah, of course. Maybe it will be the reason that the distance from here to the moon isn't an accurate measurement of how much someone loves someone else," he replied.

As Shane predicted, it ended up being _Guess How Much I Love You_, her favourite, although she was too tired to question any of it.

"Night, baby," I whispered just as she fell asleep. She mumbled something that I'm guessing was 'goodnight' back, but it wasn't audible.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

_**Michael's POV**_

I woke up to crying. Actually, it was half-screaming half-crying. I squinted at the clock by my bed and saw that it was 2:30 a.m. Eve woke up beside me, also looking at the time.

Before either of us could get up and find out what the screaming was about, Sam came running into our room, tearstains streaking down his cheeks. He threw himself onto our bed and immediately pulled the covers up over his eyes. I pulled them back enough to see the top of his head, and ruffled his hair.

"Hey, buddy," I said gently, "what's wrong?"

He sniffled and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. He moved close enough for me to put my arms around him and give him a hug.

"I had a bad dream. There were ghosty shadowy people and they didn't say anything and I couldn't get out but they kept coming and I don't know where they were coming from because there weren't any doors and they tried to get me," he cried, short breaths coming out making him pause between every other word.

Eve stroked his head and gave him a kiss.

"It's okay. You're safe. Mommy and daddy won't let anything hurt you," she whispered, soothingly.

We lay there with Sam, telling him everything was going to be okay and that there's no such thing as ghosts. Even though we knew better. Even though I'd been one. But neither one of us was about to blurt that out to our son. Eventually, he fell asleep, breathing steadily and snoring lightly, which made us both smile.

"Do you even understand how much he looks like you?" Eve whispered through the dark.

"Who wouldn't want to look like me?" I asked, cockily.

"You spend to much time with Shane," she replied, and when I gave her a questioning look, she continued, "you're developing what I like to call an SCE. A Shane Collins Ego."

That made me laugh.

"So, what do you make of this nightmare?" Eve asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's Morganville. I'm pretty sure there's someone who could make you dream certain things, like Myrnin, maybe. I mean they can make you think things and do things, so why not give you nightmares?"

"Eve, he's four. It's probably just that: a nightmare. All kids have them,"  
>"Yes, but do all kids have them about ghosty-shadowy things? I didn't and I knew the deep, dark secrets of Morganville from the day I was born,"<p>

"Yeah, well it doesn't mean someone made him have that dream. I'm sure a lot of kids have nightmares about ghosts and shadows and stuff,"

She looked at me and I saw her expression soften a little.

"Yeah, I guess. I just get paranoid, you know? What with all the trouble we got into I just feel like there's someone constantly out to get us,"

"Hey," I said, grabbing her hand to hold, "there is almost certainly someone out to get us. But if they were out to get us, the chances are they'd be out to get Claire and Shane too. Hell, they probably caused more trouble than the two of us combined."

She laughed at that. A little.

"Michael, you're forgetting that we got married when you were a vampire. At least Shane and Claire kind of didn't have a town that hated them,"

"Shane and Claire hung around with us. They supported our marriage. Of course the whole town hated them,"

Eve sighed and looked down at Sam. He had small hints of red in his blonde hair, courtesy of his great-grandfather. And as much as Eve said he was the spitting image of me, you put him next to a picture of Sam (the vampire one) and it's like looking at the same person with a twenty-ish year age gap. It's the same with Carrie and Shane. Most people see her as a cloned 3-year-old girl version of Shane, but those who knew his sister, Alyssa, say she looks like her more than Shane.

I realised I was thinking about this to avoid thinking about the possibility of Eve being right, and someone having put that dream in Sam's head. I doubted it, but part of me kept telling myself that it's easy to brush off things that kids say as dreams or make-believe. Which would make it easy to plant the idea in peoples' heads without them becoming worried.

_Maybe you're just paranoid. _A small voice in the back of my head said. _Maybe you're just so worried that all the trouble you lot got into as teenagers, even though most of it was saving this damned town's ass, will come back to haunt you that you're worried about shadows._

Paranoia. Great.

_**Time Skip**_

It had been a week and a half since Sam had first had that dream – nightmare – and he'd had a few since – 'a few' meaning at least one every other night. Eve and me hadn't been getting much sleep because we'd been waiting for the moment where he wakes up crying and we had to get up to calm him down. I was starting to think that my paranoia was less of me being paranoid, and more of Eve being smart. What if something was making Sam dream about these shadow things?

We were at Shane and Claire's place, with Sam passed out asleep on the floor. It was the first time he'd actually slept soundly for almost two weeks. Shane kept looking at me funny, and when I got up to get a drink I heard him follow me to the kitchen.

"Still not getting any sleep, huh?" he asked.

"Is it that obvious?" I replied, not really wanting to know the answer. He must have sensed that because he just raised an eyebrow at me.

"Look, if you want me and Claire to look after the kids for a night or two… or three the way you're looking, you know we will. Carrie would be over the moon,"

"As much as I appreciate the offer, and as much as you owe me, I don't think that would fix anything," he gave me another look.

"Okay, first, I owe you nothing. Second, we can deal with nightmares. We do have a child of our own," he said.

"Dude you made me come do your laundry the other day because you couldn't figure out which colours you should put in with each other! And as good as it felt to one-up you, _laundry _is not manly,"

"Hey, we agreed to never talk about that again. Especially when Claire and or Eve are in the house,"

"You still owe me."

He glared at me before shaking it off.

"Look, Shane, I have a… worrying feeling that someone is, you know, making Sam have these nightmares,"

Shane looked at me like I was crazy.  
>"You really think someone would – <em>could <em>do that?"

"I'm pretty sure _something_ can. Myrnin?"

Shane looked thrown for a second.

"Why would _Myrnin _waste time giving people nightmares? Besides, I'm pretty sure Claire would know something if he was,"

It was my turn to look thrown. I hadn't thought of that. I just shook my head, ending the conversation. I didn't want to put the stress of nightmares and no sleep on Claire and Shane's backs if I didn't have to, so I didn't bring up the idea of Sam and Ellie staying here for a few days again.

_**Shane's POV**_

I couldn't stop thinking about what Michael had told me earlier. About someone making people dream certain things. I mean, sure vampires could make people think and do things, that was a well-known fact, but dreaming? It seemed a little… out there, even for vampires. I shut the thought out and tried to get some sleep. I might have actually succeeded if Carrie hadn't woken up crying.

I went into her room carefully, so no to scare her or anything. She was sat up in bed staring at the corner of her bedroom, tears running down her cheeks. I turned the light on and she hid under the covers. I walked over and perched on the edge of her bed.

"Carrie?" I asked, and reached out to pull the covers back. She poked a hand out for me to hold, so I did. She was shaking and still crying. "Hey, Carebear. What's the matter?"

She was still crying, and she didn't answer, but after peeking above the covers and looking at me, she pulled them right back and crawled into my lap, holding my arm like she'd never let go. I held her there, rocking her back and forth gently, stroking her hair. Claire walked in looking half asleep, but concerned. She woke up immediately and her face softened when she saw the state Carrie was in.

She came over and joined us, sitting on the bed rubbing Carrie's back, talking in a low voice trying to soothe her. Carrie cried for about five more minutes before the sobs turned into hiccups. She sat back a bit, but still clung to my arm. She sniffled and looked up at us. We both smiled down at her, silently letting her know everything was okay. She tried a small smile back.

"What made my little girl cry like that?" I asked. She did a kind of half-hiccup half-sniffle and smiled a little.

"Seriously, who's butt am I kicking?"

That got a proper smile out of her, but it quickly turned into a frown.

"Daddy, it's not nice to kick peoples' butts," she said with a shaky voice.

"It's also not nice for people to make you cry," I replied. I saw a flash of confusion on her face, but it disappeared quickly. Claire was still rubbing her back.

"I had a bad dream," she said, the frown returning. She was a lot like me; she hated being made to look weak, and nightmares really annoyed her because of this. So did crying.

"What happened, honey?" Claire asked her. Carrie went on to tell us a familiar-sounding dream. One Sam had been having for a couple of weeks. I saw Claire looking at me with her worried face on that I'd seen all too often since I met her all those years ago. I tried for a smile, but I'm pretty sure it came out twisted and more like a grimace than a smile.

Carrie had a stuffed bunny in her hand that looked like it had suffered a lot more than three years of being thrown, chewed and dropped in driveways and on parking lots. I'm pretty sure it had been the subject of a few tug-of-war games too. She was still hiccupping a little, and her cheeks were still wet with tears, but she'd calmed down.

Claire went downstairs to get her a drink, while I tucked her back into bed. Or I tried to tuck her back into bed, but she wasn't having it. She started to kick back the covers and I could see she was on the verge of tears again. In the end I picked her up and carried her into Claire's and my room, and sat her down on the bed. I picked up the Three Little Pigs book she'd left from a few weeks ago, and sat down next to her to read it.

She couldn't read yet, not very well anyway. She could pick out a few words (mostly names that she saw pop up on my phone, or Claire's phone regularly like Eve or Michael) but she couldn't read a book to us yet. Sometimes she liked to make up the story using the pictures, but tonight she just snuggled into my side hugged the life out of her stuffed bunny. I sat there and let her look at the pictures while I read the story to her.

Claire came back in with Carrie's drink just after I sat down. I decided I'd let Claire read to Carrie tonight (again) because my voice was going. I'm a swim coach for the high school team and you have to talk almost at a shouting level in the Morganville Community Pool or you can't hear anything. I also liked to watch Claire and Carrie together; they were too smart for each other and it could be funny. As much as I didn't want her to grow up, part of me couldn't wait to see what it was like between Carrie and her mom when she was older and smarter.

Carrie fell asleep about halfway through making Claire read the book for the third time, curled up at Claire's side. Her cheeks were still a bit red from when she'd been crying.

Claire knew about the nightmares Sam had been having, and I saw the shock in her face when Carrie had told us about hers.

"Shane?" she asked, quietly, almost like she didn't really know if she wanted me to hear it or not. I looked up at her and tried not to let it show that I was more than a little bit freaked out.

"It's just a dream. We're Neutrals in this town, Claire. Nothing can hurt her," I said, although we both know that was wishful thinking. Claire and I may be Neutrals, and that may sort of extend to Carrie as Protection, but we could still be hurt. There would just be 'more severe consequences' for the person who hurt us. I didn't really believe that last part though. Not if it was a vampire, anyway.

"I don't think it's anything like vampires. It doesn't seem like something a vampire would do," Claire said, as if she was reading my mind.

I reached out to hold her hand. Hers was cold and shaking a little. I tried to smile at her to reassure her that it was going to be okay. It was a lot easier to make her believe that before we had Carrie.

"It's going to be okay," I said it anyway. I was trying to convince myself just as much I was Claire, "she's a kid. It's just a bad dream."

She nodded and sighed in defeat but didn't look majorly convinced. I didn't blame her to be honest.

"God, of course it's just a dream. I had nightmares about weird things when I was a kid and I'm not from Morganville," she shook her head and got up to turn out the light, not bothering to take Carrie back to her own bed. Claire gets a little over-protective when Carrie wakes up crying at night, and she almost always sleeps with us after she's had nightmares. It's a habit we need to break, but hey, can't blame us for wanting her to feel safe.

_It's just a dream, Shane. _I told myself. _She's fine. Sam's fine. It's all going to be fine._

I really hoped I was right, but being in Morganville, it seemed a lot more logical to doubt myself, especially on this.

_One day, _I thought, _I'll get Claire and Carrie out of here for good. We won't ever have to think about this place again._

I hoped to God I could get them out one day, but I knew the reality of living in Morganville with so many ties and so many important links to vampires.

I turned the TV on and stared at the flashing colours until I fell into a deep, dark sleep that was vampire/ghost/shadow/anything-else-that-could-hurt-us free. It was almost peaceful.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

_**Claire's POV**_

Carrie didn't seem particularly phased by the nightmare she had. The next day started out as normal and the knot of tension I'd built up inside worrying that something was going to jump out of nowhere at us was starting to ease up. Shane didn't seem too worried about her dream, and if he was he didn't show it.

While I was making Shane's lunch for the day I watched them run around the kitchen together with water guns that were empty. I wasn't much for rules about what Carrie could and couldn't have in the house, but water while you're running around inside isn't a good idea. Nothing seemed out-of-the-ordinary, so I tried to push any fears I had to the back of my mind. After washing my hands, I looked at the clock on the cooker.

"Right, time to get you to school, sweetie," I said to Carrie.

"But I don't wanna go," Shane said in a slightly mocking voice.

"No, daddy, me not you," Carrie chimed in, giggling.

"She wasn't talking to me?" Shane asked.

"Nope," she replied. Shane gave her his best heartbroken look and Carrie threw her arms around him. "It's okay, daddy. I love you,"

"Love you too, Carebear. I'll see you later. Have a good day," he gave her a kiss before standing up and walking over to me, "and I love you too, don't worry I wouldn't leave you out." He winked at me and leaned in for a kiss.

"Hurry up," Carrie said sounding exasperated.

I broke the kiss off and put Shane's lunch in his hands.

"Have a good day," I said, as he walked out.

_**Eve's POV**_

Something felt wrong when I was dropping Sam off at preschool. He kept looking off into the distance and shivering, as if he'd seen something that scared him.

"Hey, Sammy. Everything okay?" I asked warily.

"They're following me," he whispered. I almost didn't hear it, but when I did I had to stop myself from slamming the breaks on in the middle of the road. A car accident was the last thing we needed right now.

"Who are?" I asked, knowing I sounded just as scared has Sam had looked the first night he'd had a nightmare.

"I can't see who they are," he said, "they look like shadows but I can't see their faces."

We pulled into the parking lot of the preschool and I helped Sam get out of the car. He was still staring at… nothing, but I knew it had to be something. I walked him in and after I saw he'd settled down with his friends I left.

I saw Claire walking in with Carrie on my way out. She leaned in close to my ear as she passed and asked me to wait out here for her. She needed to talk to me. I watched Carrie as she turned to wave at me.

She had a bright smile on her face, but, like Sam, seemed a little distant. Like there was something occupying her thoughts. Not that that's out of the ordinary for small children, but this didn't seem like the type of otherwise-occupied small children usually get. It seemed wary.

I didn't realise Claire was standing right in front of me until she shook me a little. I looked up and started to walk back to her car with her. We sat down in the front seats, but neither one of us said anything for a long moment.

"Sam said he can see –," what did he say he could see? He couldn't actually see faces, but he saw something. Like shadows.

"Carrie said she could see their faces," Claire said, sounding really, really shaken. She sounded like she was about to burst into tears.

"God, what are they? Why them; they're kids for Gods sake!" I practically cried, slamming my hand down on the dash.

Claire just stared at me, a million questions in her eyes, but none that I could answer. I thought about calling Shane; Claire seemed like she needed the comfort of him right now, even more than I needed Michael to tell me everything was going to be fine. And _I'm _usually the one who gets scared enough to need the hug.

"You going to work?" She asked out of the blue.

"Yeah, I guess. Why? Are you?" I replied.

"No. I don't think I could focus on anything even if I did, and I'll be way too pre-occupied. I'm going to try and talk to Amelie," she said, her voice getting more and more shaky with every word.

"Want me to come with you? I'm not sure I'll make any half-decent coffee today. Hell, I'll probably end up putting shots of vodka in instead of caramel or something," I joked, trying to brighten to mood a little. Claire looked like she was trying to smile and force a laugh, but all that came out was a choked sound. Then she was crying. And she was crying hard, tears falling from her eyes. I didn't know what to do or say or think, so I put my arm around her and called the only person I knew she'd want to be with right now. Shane.

I left her in the car while I was on the phone because I'm not sure Shane would've been able to hear anything other than the bone-racking sobs coming from his wife.

"Hello?" he said, picking up on the second ring. He hadn't started work properly yet, thankfully so he could pick his phone up.

"Hey, Shane it's Eve," I said.

"Is everything okay? You sound like you've seen a ghost," as soon as he said that I heard the sound of him putting his hand over his eyes and letting out a small groan, "I shouldn't have said that, sorry."

"It's okay," I said, although I'm not entirely sure it was, "Look, um, Claire is having, like, I don't know, um, a breakdown or something. You need to come talk to her or something because I can't calm her down at all."

"What happened?" he asked. I could hear the worry in his voice and the sound of a chair scraping back on the floor. Guess he was already on his way.  
>"Nothing! Nothing happened, she's fine. I mean she's not fine because I've never seen anybody cry like this, but she – you just need to be here. Please," I added the please in a whisper.<p>

"I'm on my way," he said. I heard a car engine start up – his I'm guessing, "wait, where are you?"  
>"We're at the preschool," I said.<p>

After he hung up, I climbed back into the car and tried to soothe my best friend. She was still crying, and it hadn't calmed down one bit.

"Shane's on his way. It's going to be okay, Claire. We'll sort this," I said. I'm not sure if I believed it, but I had to, for Claire, for me, for Sam and Carrie.

A few minutes later my phone went off. It was a text from Michael; apparently Shane had called him and told him everything I said.

_I'll be there in 10._

It was a short message, but it meant everything. I didn't even ask Michael to come, but part of me felt almost relieved enough to cry like Claire that he was coming.

I thought about maybe getting off the preschool parking lot, but then I remembered both Claire and me had a car here, and she was in no fit state to drive. I'm not sure I was in a fit state to drive, and I was in a much better state than Claire.

After another five minutes or so, Shane pulled up beside us. The parking lot was almost empty now as most of the kids had arrived and the parents were leaving.

I saw him jump out of the car and jog over to us. I opened the door and got out so he could get in. I went to sit in my own car and wait for Michael.

_**Shane's POV**_

Claire was worse than I'd gathered from what Eve had told me. I'd never, ever seen her like this, and it was scaring me.

"Hey, Claire," I said, moving some of her tear-soaked hair back from her face, "What happened?"

I guessed she couldn't really speak very well, so I put my arms around her and rocked her gently from side to side like I do with Carrie when she's upset. I realised Carrie was inside the preschool, and found myself staring into one of the windows.

From what I could see, which wasn't a lot because Claire had parked quite far away, they were sat on the floor and the teacher was reading to them. I smiled to myself after I thought about what Carrie would be thinking – or saying, knowing her – about the story. About what the characters were doing which wasn't possible, or how although she doesn't think animals can talk, she believes in magic and fairies and unicorns and Santa.

Then I was drawn back into the real world when I realised she was probably not thinking about any of those things, and she was probably thinking about all the nightmares she'd been having. It killed me knowing she was in there, maybe upset, and I couldn't do anything about it.

I looked down at Claire as she sniffled and wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. She looked like she was trying to stop crying, but not really succeeding. I just held her closer and rested my cheek on the top of her head.

"It's okay, Claire. It's all okay," I whispered. There was no reason for me to whisper it, but it felt like something that needed to be kept private, just between the two of us.

"No it's not," she said. "God, Shane, it's anything but okay. Carrie is in there, probably ignoring everything like she does, and trying to ignore the ghost faces whatever the hell they are, and we're out here and we don't even know what she's talking about."

"Hey, Claire, look at me," I held her face in both hands and looked her right in the eye. She looked right back. "It is okay. We can't let this get to us, okay? Getting worked up about this is Carrie's job, not mine, not yours, not Eve's or Michael's, got it? How do you think Carrie would feel if she saw you like this right now? As far as she's concerned, everything it going to be fine because that's what _we've _told her. It might be a lie, but right now, we don't know that. This could be nothing. This could be absolutely nothing. But crying like this about it isn't going to fix anything. We need to go talk to someone who can give us answers, and I can tell you now we're not going to find those people in a parking lot."

She stared at me and for a moment I was scared she was going to start yelling at me and throw me out of the car, but she nodded and wiped her eyes again. The tears had stopped, finally.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, I just… I'm just scared, you know? I know we've been up against things bigger than this, maybe. I mean, we fought Bishop and the draug and Kim and I mean I've died, for God's sake. _I died_. But this is just – she's our daughter, Shane. She's a kid. She doesn't know what's going on in any of this, like you said as far as she's concerned it's all going to be fine and go away because we're not going to let anything hurt her. She doesn't know -," I cut her off there.

"She does know. Of course she knows; she's smart, she's your daughter. She knows that it's not normal to see, what did you say she was seeing? Faces? She knows that's not normal, but she knows that we've told her it will be okay, so we have to make this okay," Claire nodded. "I need to go into work and coach this one lot of high school kids because they've got a competition coming up and I can't let them down, but I'll be back by eleven, and we're going to fix this. Me, you, Michael and Eve, just like old times. We're going to kick some ass. Nothing messes with our kids and gets away with it. Nothing."

She smiled at that and nodded her head in agreement. I kissed her, she tasted like salty tears, and I wiped the remaining drops from her face before getting back into my car.

Michael had shown up at some point, and it looked like he was comforting Eve. I didn't want to interrupt anything, so I texted Michael before driving back to work.

_You working today?_

He texted back a few seconds later.

_Supposed to, but thinking otherwise at the moment. You?_

I replied with

_Got to coach 1 class but will be back by 11. If you're not working can you do me a favour and go home with Claire. I don't want her to be by herself._

He looked at me through the car window and gave me a thumbs-up. I nodded my thanks before driving off.

_**Michael's POV**_

I did what Shane asked and went back to the Collins' house with Claire and Eve. As soon as we got in Claire went upstairs. I sat with Eve for a few minutes, but she fell asleep on the couch, so I got up to find Claire.

I found her tidying up Carrie's room. She was picking up her pyjamas when I walked in. I watched as she made the bed, picked up a few other clothes from the floor to put in the laundry basket and open the curtains.

She looked like she'd been crying again, but I don't know if that was just that she'd been crying earlier and still had blotchy cheeks.

After she'd opened the curtains she looked at me for a long ten seconds before sitting down on the bed. It was more like she collapsed onto the bed if I'm honest. I sat down next to her and she leaned into my side for comfort. I put my arm around her.

We sat there like that for about twenty minutes. She wasn't crying, but she was shaking. Neither of us said anything for a long time. When we finally did, she spoke first.

"Thanks for coming back here," she said to me.

"You think I'd let you be alone right now?" I asked.

"I think Shane wouldn't let you let me be alone right now," she replied, and then frowned, "I don't know if that made sense, sorry."

I laughed and found myself stood up looking out the window.

There was a swing set in the backyard that Shane and me had spent a weekend building a few months ago. We had one exactly same at the Glass house. The kids loved them. There was a picture on the chest of drawers in front of Carrie's bedroom window. It was of her and Shane after we'd built the set. The sound of Claire coming to stand next to me snapped me out of my thoughts.

"She's a sweet kid, Claire," I told her, "we're gonna fix this. I can't let Shane go through any kind of loss ever again, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to Carrie."

"Thank you, Michael," Claire said softly. I could see a smile finally making it's way onto her face as she looked at some of the other pictures on top of the drawers. A lot of them were of Carrie and Shane.

"She looks a lot like you, you know," I surprised myself with that, and I could tell Claire was taken back because she stared at me like I was crazy for a split second.

"You think? Everyone says she looks like Shane," she replied.

"Yeah. She's got your nose and you're eyes," Claire actually frowned at tilted her head a little at that.

"Are you sure? I mean, look at them," she picked up one of the pictures. It was Carrie and Shane at his birthday this year. They both had huge grins on their faces. "Look at them. They're like the same person."

I pulled my wallet out of my pocket and sorted through the stash of photos I had in there. One of them was of Shane and me when we were around fourteen. I'll admit it's not the best picture or either of us, but Alyssa is in the background.

I showed Claire the picture and she took it, and when she caught sight of Lyssa she let out a small gasp.

"Does Shane know you have this?" she asked. Honestly, I didn't know, so I shrugged my shoulders in reply. I knew it was one of the only pictures of Alyssa that had survived the fire, mainly because it hadn't been in the fire; it had been taped to the refrigerator in my mom and dad's kitchen.

As much as I honestly thought Carrie looked like Claire, I thought she looked like Alyssa a lot more. I think Claire sensed this because she kept looking between the two photos she had in her hand.

"No wonder Shane calls her Alyssa sometimes," she said quietly.

"He does?" I hadn't known that.

"Yeah. Not very often, but it happens from time to time. I figured it was just because… well I don't really know. I call Sam, Michael sometimes, you know? I figured it was just like that," she smiled a little. "You want anything to eat or drink?"

I shook my head and turned around to see Eve stood in the doorway, smiling at us.

"What?" Claire and me asked at the same time.

"Nothing. I was just thinking about how the hell we're all still alive, you know? And how we're all still friends," she said. Claire pulled a face at her.

"That's _so _cliché, Eve," she said with a wink. It sounded like she was saying it in a voice intended to mock Monica. Then I realised it was probably some inside joke that, as a male, I'd never understand.

We heard the front door open and close.  
>"Shane's home," Eve said.<p>

"Ready to go kick some ass to get some answers?" Claire asked, and walked out of the room to meet Shane.

**A/N: I probably won't get to update every day, but I felt like I needed to add a new one quickly so the story starts to get going for you guys. I can't actually remember what chapter it does start to get better, so please hang in there with me! Thank you if you decided to read it – I really struggled to think of a summary for it, so thanks for giving it a go. I really appreciate it.**

**To clairebear97 – THANK YOU for reviewing. I really appreciate it!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

_**Claire's POV**_

We were all sat around the dinner table talking about what Carrie and Sam had been saying and seeing. None of us could come up with a rational reason for why this had been happening, but then this is Morganville; nothing here is what most people would ever call rational.

In the end, we all agreed it would be best to try and find out what was happening without alerting the vampires, although part of me thought they probably already knew, even if they weren't behind it.

We didn't actually end up doing anything because we didn't know where to start. We just sat and waited until they finished preschool. At some point during the day, around lunchtime, Michael went out to pick Ellie up from day care since they weren't exactly needed if none of us were working. She ended up sitting on the floor and playing with some building blocks.

As 3 p.m. rolled around, me and Eve went out – in the same car just in case either one of us had a breakdown again – to pick Sam and Carrie up. We were stood outside the building for around ten minutes with the other parents, waiting for them to finish. I kept feeling a cold breeze go over me, but there was no wind. Just the Texas summer sun beating down on us. I tried not to shiver each time the breeze swept over me, but it seemed to get colder and colder each time. It reminded me of when Michael was a ghost.

I saw Eve shiver out of the corner of my eye and looked over at her. I saw she was about to say something, but the class was let out just as she opened her mouth. Carrie came crashing into my arms waving a piece of paper in my face.

It was a drawing that she'd done during the day. It showed her, Sam and Ellie on one of the swing sets, and me, Eve, Shane and Michael sitting on the grass in front of them.

"Look mommy! Look what I did," she almost yelled.

"It's great, honey. I love it! We'll have to put it on the refrigerator when we get back," I said.

I saw Sam talking to Eve quietly. He looked scared and it looked like Eve was trying to calm him down. I took Carrie's hand and walked over to them.

"Hey, Sammy, how was your day?" I asked brightly. He hid his head in the crook of Eve's neck. I gave Eve a questioning look and she shook her head.

"What about you, Carrie. How was your day?" She asked.

Carrie was giving Sam a wary look as if she understood why he was hiding but didn't trust him.

"Carrie," I sang, trying to get her attention. It didn't work. She looked at me and bent close enough to whisper in my ear.

"They're in the corners of the rooms, mommy,"

I didn't say anything. I just gave her a hug and held on as tight as she did. I remembered what Michael said earlier about not letting Shane lose anyone else, especially Carrie. _Especially Carrie_. Those words echoed through my mind as I stroked my daughter's hair.

I kissed the top of her head and we left the preschool.

In the car on the way home, Eve kept glancing in the rear view mirror where she could see Sam looking out of the window.

"What do you think? Do we call Amelie?" she asked, her voice wavering with uncertainty.

"I don't know," I replied honestly.

_**Later on in the Day**_

_**Claire's POV**_

I finished cleaning up from dinner and walked into the living room where Carrie was lying on the floor doing a jigsaw with Shane. I sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. There was nothing on that interested me much, so I ended up half-watching some cooking show, and half-watching Carrie and Shane try and find a missing jigsaw piece.

I noticed Carrie kept on shivering, like me and Eve had done earlier when the cold kept coming over us. Shane had seen too, and he sat up and pulled her onto his lap. He put his arms around her in a protective way, but also to warm her up. He tried to talk to her but she wasn't listening. She never did when she was focusing on something else.

Shane looked up at me. His arms suddenly got tighter around Carrie when she shivered again. This time, she turned into Shane's warmth and curled up on his lap.

"It's like when Michael was a – you know…" I said, looking at Carrie but talking to Shane. "Me and Eve felt it when we went to pick them up."

Shane looked at me and then stared at the floor for a few seconds. He looked drained… tired.

"Yeah, I felt it too, at work," he said quietly. He was picking at a piece of carpet that was sticking up out of the rest of it. "Carrie, it's time for bed, come on."

He picked Carrie up off his lap and stood up. She looked up at him confused and wide-eyed.

"But I haven't finished," she exclaimed, pointing at the jigsaw.

"You can finished it tomorrow, come on," Shane seemed agitated, and an agitated Shane wasn't someone you wanted to get on the wrong side of, even if you're Carrie.

"But you said I could go to bed when I've finished it," Carrie argued back, frowning now. I sometimes worried that she'd inherited too much of Shane's stubbornness. All it ever seemed to do was get her into trouble.

"I said it's bedtime, don't argue with me," Shane's voice was starting to rise now, and I saw Carrie look over at me. Her bottom lip was trembling and I could tell she was going to burst into tears any second. For someone who doesn't like crying, she cries a hell of a lot.

"Shane, come on, she's almost finished," I reasoned. Carrie looked back up at Shane. He took a step forward, not towards me, and I flinched. I actually _flinched_.

_What is wrong with you, Claire? _I thought. _He's not going to hurt you or anything._

Carrie didn't flinch though. She stood there and folded her arms. I saw the look she was giving Shane and it was a weird mix of angry and heart-broken.

"Carrie, come on. It's time for bed. You won't get a story," he warned. I could tell he was about to lose his cool.

"But you said I could finish -," Carrie started. I saw something in Shane snap and quickly got up to take any blow that he may send Carrie's way.

"Shane, stop," I shouted. I grabbed onto Carrie's hand as she cowered behind my leg. I lowered my voice, with the hope that Carrie couldn't hear me. "Do not do this. We don't need any of your crap right now. Do not lose it with Carrie because this is not her fault."

Shane glared at me, then looked down at Carrie. His expression softened and I thought _he_ was about to cry. Instead, he turned around and stormed off upstairs. I stood for a minute staring after him before turning to Carrie.

I let go of her hand, picked her up and sat her down on my lap. She leant against me, so I rocked her back and forth gently.

"Shh, sweetie. It's okay, don't cry," I murmured, trying to remember how my mom used to calm me down when I was Carrie's age. She whimpered and started playing with my hair. She did that when she was upset. "It's okay, daddy's just a bit upset at the moment."

Not that I thought what he did was okay, and not that he could use being upset or worried as an excuse to get angry at everything, but I knew he'd be sorry – more sorry than he ever was with anyone else – when he next saw her. He'd probably spend tonight sat up in bed watching TV thinking about what he did. He can be such a drama queen.

"Daddy loves you, honey," I said while she stopped crying.

"Why did he shout at me?" she asked, very quietly as though she thought he'd come back shouting if he heard.

"He's just tired. He's had a long day and he didn't mean to," I replied. As much as I loved Shane, it felt wrong making up excuses for him like this because he promised he'd get his anger issues sorted out. I thought he had, long before Carrie was born.

"But he said I could finish my puzzle and he didn't let me," she burst into tears again and I tried my best to make her feel better, but nothing worked, so I sat there and let her cry. As upset as she was with Shane right now, I knew he was the only person who had a chance of stopping the tears.

It was then that I noticed Shane stood in the doorway. He'd changed out of the shirt and shorts he wears to work and into a pair of jeans that looked like he'd had them since I met him, and a faded t-shirt. I noticed he wasn't looking at me, but at Carrie, looking at her like he'd never be able to say sorry enough times even though she was the most forgiving person either of us knew.

He looked up at me. I must have had some kind of angry look on my face because he looked down at his feet after a second. When he did finally look back up, sorrow was written all over his face. I gave him a sympathetic smile, realising in the back of my mind that I couldn't be mad at him, and gestured for him to come over, which he did carefully and silently.

He was so stealthy on his way over that Carrie didn't even know he was there until he'd sat down. She looked up and I half expected her to cower away like she did earlier, but instead she stared up at Shane through the tears that were still coming. It was like she was trying to figure out what he was thinking.

Shane wiped a falling tear with his thumb, and moved a piece of hair back from her face, then moved his hand away.

After a few seconds, he opened his arms and she crawled off my lap into his, curling up and burying her head in the gap between his arm and his side. I saw that he'd brought on of her teddy bears down with him, her favourite teddy bear. Shane leant back into the couch cushions, almost fully lying down, and Carrie crawled up to lie on his chest, her head resting next to his, cuddling her teddy bear. Slowly, she stopped crying and Shane turned his head to kiss her. They lay there for a few minutes in silence, the only sound coming from Carrie when she sniffled.

"I'm sorry, Carrie," Shane said, eventually. I noticed he'd called her by her actual name, which was pretty rare for Shane; he usually used one of her many nicknames.

She didn't say anything back; she just put her arms around his neck and hugged him, the teddy was getting awkwardly squished between the two. It was enough of forgiveness to bring tears to Shane's eyes, but he didn't let them spill over.

"You wanna finish that puzzle?" he asked.

"Yeah?" she said through a sniffle. I'm not sure if she intended it to be a question, but that's how it came across.

"Come on then," Shane sat up and they both got down on the floor to finish it.

It took them about ten minutes, and by the time they'd finished Carrie was happier. She and Shane lay on their backs on the floor drawing pictures in the air and trying to guess what each other was drawing. They did it until Carrie was laughing, and I'm talking full on laugh-until-your-stomach-hurts laughing. She ended up falling asleep on the living room floor, so Shane carried her to bed.

When he came back down he looked odd.

"You okay?" I asked.

"We need to call Amelie," he said. I nodded and pulled out my phone. I tried calling five times before giving up.

"She's not answering," I said. Shane made a frustrated sound and I had to stop him from punching the wall. "Hey, Shane calm down. We can try calling someone else, see if they know where Amelie is."

"Like who, Claire? No one in this stupid town even cares," he replied. I gave up, knowing he was right. "Call Myrnin."

I'm pretty sure there were people in China who felt the whole world be thrown off balance for a few seconds. I never thought I'd witness Shane asking for _Myrnin's _help.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Claire, just call him. If he can't help us he might at least know how to get to Amelie," he said, so I called Myrnin.

The phone was picked up on the fourth ring, but it wasn't Myrnin I was speaking to.

"Hello, Claire," a raspy, all too familiar voice said.

"Frank, where's Myrnin?" I asked, out of the corner of my eye I saw Shane telling me to hang up. He still wasn't on good terms with his dad. Not that I expected them to ever be on good terms.

"I don't really care," he said slowly. I was about to hang up on him when he said, "Don't put the phone down; I know what's been happening to my granddaughter."

"Wait, what? What do you mean you know?"

"Well, it means that I have an accurate understanding of the nightmares my granddaughter has been having, as well as the fact she's been seeing shadows,"

Shane must have overheard what Frank said because before I could protest he'd grabbed the phone out of my hands.

"What do you know? I swear to God if you have anything to do with this I will come over there and rip you to pieces,"

"Please, Shane, do rip me to pieces. You think I like having to follow orders from vampires?"

"Shut up, Frank. What do you know?"  
>"Shane, a few manners wouldn't go amiss,"<p>

"You're hardly one to talk about manners,"

"Perhaps not, but as your father, I'll say: do as I say not as I do,"

"Look, maybe you didn't get the memo, but you're not my dad. I don't want anything to do with you, got it?" Shane sounded really angry now.

"I guess you don't want to know anything I know then," Frank was tormenting Shane now, trying to get a reaction out of him. And it was working.

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry. What do you know?"

"Well, I'm aware that Michael Glass' kid had been having nightmares and seeing shadowy figures with no faces. I'm also aware that my granddaugh– "

"She's not your granddaughter. You are not a part of this family, Frank," Shane growled. It hurt me a little to see him like this, especially towards his own father. Although, Frank Collins wasn't exactly running for World's Best Grandfather, so maybe I could get over it.

"Okay, that stings I won't lie," he said, "Anyway, your child also had nightmares about these same creatures and can also see them, however she sees their faces."

Shane looked blank for a few seconds.

"Yeah, we already know that, asshole," he said.

"Well then, I guess I'm not much help,"

Shane hung up in utter frustration. He looked about ready to throw my phone through the window. I took it from his hands and sat him down.

We looked at each other for a moment before Shane pulled me into his arms. We stayed there, wrapped up in each other, for a long time. I felt safe and I was grateful that Shane still had that effect on me.

"We should go to bed. Ain't gonna do no good being tired and grouchy," Shane said, sounding defeated.

"Yeah," I agreed softly.

"You think Carrie hates me?" Shane said. I actually laughed a little.

"You're kidding, right?" I asked, staring at him amused. "You actually think she hates you?"

Shane nodded, looking more than a little bit confused. I sighed and shook my head.

"You know, there's nothing harder to break than a girl's love for her dad," Shane raised his eyes in a challenging look. "Seriously. Look at Eve; her dad hit her, tried to sell her to a paedophilic vampire and threw her out when she refused and she still cried for him when he died. She still loved him, as much as she didn't want to. Alyssa probably loved your dad too."

"Yeah well my dad wasn't as much of an ass to Lyss. He saved most of it for me. Carrying on the family trade like the oldest male does and shit," Shane muttered.

"Hey, that didn't mean he was World's Best Dad to her," Shane looked at me.

"That's not what I'm saying, Claire. I know full well that my dad was horrible to Lyssa. I'm just saying that he actually showed a little bit of love towards her from time to time. He was nothing like your dad, and I know that. Lyss and me didn't have a dad that ever showed compassion, but it was sometimes like we had a different dad altogether. Sure, he believed in tough love with both of us. Thought if he hit us enough we'd learn, but that didn't change the fact that Alyssa was his little girl. He was still upset when she died. He still got angry when she died, just like any father would. Just like I would. All I'm saying is that if it were me who'd died in that fire, no way would he have blamed Alyssa for not getting me out. He would have called me a coward at my own funeral," Shane spat it all out; like he couldn't stop himself once he'd started. I sat and stared at him, completely shocked.

"Oh, Shane," I said, putting my hand on his arm.

"What? It's nothing you didn't already know," he said.

"Carrie doesn't hate you," I blurted. "You're an amazing dad, Shane. She's so lucky to have you, you know that, right?"

"_Lucky _isn't exactly a word I'd use to describe anyone who knows me," he muttered.

I could have cried for him, but I knew he wouldn't understand, so I held the tears and the sympathy act back.

"She's lucky. I'm lucky. Shane, we both think the world of you. That little girl of ours, every time she looks at you she has the biggest, proudest smile on her face and you know it. So what if she doesn't know anything about your past at the moment? I do, and I still love you," I said.

"Well, yeah. Who wouldn't love me? I'm awesome," he joked, but the smile on his face quickly faded. "I'm not kidding though, you're not lucky to know me. I'm the definition of trouble. I'm not saying I think I'm a bad father or anything because I know what a bad father is like and I try my hardest to be the complete opposite of that."

"Shane, look at me. I'm smart, yes?" he nodded, "Okay, so we're in agreement on that. Awesome. Listen to me; you think if I cared about luck I'd be with you? Because as a smart person, I tend to know when something is bad for me. I'm lucky to know you, because I got a rockin' husband and the most fantastic daughter out of it."

Shane smiled at that. "She is pretty fantastic, isn't she?"

"She's amazing, and that's half because of you," I said. I then yawned and Shane laughed.

"Didn't I say like ten minutes ago that we should go to bed?" he asked.

"Yeah, I do recall that being mentioned," I said standing up and holding my hands out for him. He pulled himself up and leant over to kiss me.

"That will never get old," he murmured. I giggled and he said, "Oh you think I'm on about the kissing? Cute. I meant me being right."

I acted shocked and heartbroken.

"Well, it will never get old because it never happens," I said, sticking my tongue out. Shane gaped at me and I walked upstairs.

Any problems we may have can wait until morning, but when the morning comes, we're going at this with pitchforks and torches.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_**Michael's POV**_

I was sat downstairs tuning my guitar while Eve put Sam to bed after he'd had another nightmare. I was lost in my thoughts, completely oblivious to anything going on around me, only slightly paying attention to not over-tuning my guitar and breaking strings. I thought I was alone until I felt a small hand on my leg. I looked down and saw Ellie looking up at me.

I set the guitar aside and picked her up. She was in pink princess pyjamas that Claire and Shane had given us as hand-me-downs from Carrie.

"You okay?" I asked her. I was worried that she was going to start seeing the shadows like Sam and Carrie, but so far she'd shown no signs of it.

She nodded her head and laid it on my chest. I smoothed down her curly hair.

"Shadow people," she said, quietly and it took me a minute to work out what she'd said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, warily.

"Sammy and Car-Car," she couldn't pronounce 'Carrie' properly yet, so she shortened it. I'm surprised it hadn't caught on as a nickname. "They saw shadow people."

"What are shadow people?" I asked. I didn't want to know how she knew what they were, because it wasn't something I wanted to think about.

"Vampires," she said, simply. They all knew about vampires; we couldn't keep it from them when they were dropping by every two seconds. "They're vampires that you-," I didn't let her finish because I needed to call Claire. I kind of guessed the rest of what she was going to say.

"Okay, okay. Thank you, sweetie," I kissed her goodnight and she skipped off to bed.

I pulled out my phone and dialled Amelie's number, but after two tries, no one had picked up. I was going to try a third time, but part of me was warning me not to do that, so I scrolled through my contact list until I found Claire, who picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?" It sounded like I'd woken her up.

"Hey, sorry if I woke you up but Ellie just said…" I trailed off because I could hear Claire talking to Shane.

"Michael?" Shane asked. He must have taken the phone from Claire.

"Yeah, it's me,"

"Dude, thanks for calling at like 2 a.m. I don't know about you, but I definitely prefer getting the gossip in the middle of the night,"

"That's why I called Claire,"

"Right," he paused for a second. "Anyway, it must be important, right?" he sounded nervous.

"Um, yeah. Ellie said that the shadow things Sam and Carrie have been seeing are vampires," there was a long pause.

"What?" Shane asked, and if I'd thought he'd sounded nervous before, he definitely did now.

"Yeah, and I think they might be vampires that we've, you know, killed," I said quietly.

"Oh man, that's not good," he groaned on the other end of the line, "You need to call Amelie right now."

"I tried, no one will pick up," I replied.

"Yeah, we had the same earlier," neither one of us said anything for a long time; we didn't know what to say. In the end, we hung up and I went off to tell Eve.

I spent the night staring at the ceiling, wondering how Ellie new this and whether she'd been seeing the vampires too. I looked over at the clock at some point and saw that it was almost 6 a.m. No work tomorrow for me if I didn't get any sleep soon, and I knew I wouldn't. There was no question. I looked over at Eve who was sleeping soundly next to me. I was glad she was getting some sleep for once.

_**Shane's POV**_

Michael came round the next day. We all took the day off again, but he looked like he would happily sleep for the next ten years if he were given the chance. We were all sat in the backyard watching the kids play on the swing set. They looked happy enough, but there was a brightness missing from their eyes and they looked scared under the happy. It killed me to see Carrie like that. It killed me to see Sam like that too, because he was like my unofficial nephew and I loved him.

Claire was still trying to get in touch with Amelie and I was starting to get annoyed. They expect us to be there at every beck and call, but when we need their help they disappear. Typical.

Michael eventually got through to someone who put him on hold. It was more progress than any of us had made so far, but being on hold for twenty minutes when your child's life could be in danger isn't exactly a walk in the park. Eventually the Ice Queen picked up the phone and we all went to sit in the kitchen where we could all hear her. She didn't sound too happy.

"Mr Glass I hope you are not wasting my time," she said rather coldly. I felt anger spark up inside me and had to fight to not yell down the phone to her ignorant ass.

"Where the hell have you been? We've been trying to call you for two days and you haven't picked up once! I'd have thought after everything we've done for you," he said that in an over-exaggerated, sarcastic way that even I was proud of, "you could at least return the favour once in a while."

Man, Michael was _pissed off_.

"Mr Glass I hope you understand that I have a town to run and people to see,"

"You mean vampires to see?" I muttered.

"Yes, Mr Collins, _vampires _to see. You more than anyone else should know that I always have, and I always will, put _vampires _first whether humans are treated as our equals or not," she emphasised _vampires _in a way that made it seem like she was mocking me.

"Yeah well you more than anyone else should know that I put the people I love first, and that means that I'm not afraid to come down there and stake you with one of those stakes that explodes silver if you don't stop being so ignorant,"

"Well, what's your problem then?" she asked. She sounded patient, but I knew it was an act, and with one glance at the cold, set faces of everyone else I knew they felt the same way.

"Look, ma'am," that was Eve, surprisingly being polite to a vampire. "Sam and Carrie have been having these dreams, well, they're more like nightmares, but they've been seeing… people. Like, shadows and Sam can't see their faces but Carrie can. Ellie mentioned something about them being vampires, and Michael thinks they're vampires that we've… y'know… killed."

There was a pause in which we all shifted uncomfortably in our seats around the kitchen table.

"I was afraid of this," Amelie said softly.

"Afraid of what?" Claire asked, finally inputting to the conversation.

"Well, you see, these Shadow People that your children have been talking about, they're vampires, correct, and Michael you are correct in thinking they're vampires that you have killed, or know vampires you've hurt,"

"Well, can't you make them go away or something?" I asked.

"If it were that easy then yes, but they're not just here to haunt Sam and Carrie's dreams. They want something. They probably want blood, and what better way to get revenge than take the blood of the people who killed them,"  
>"So why don't they just come after us?" Eve asked.<p>

"Well, if they did that, it would be all too easy. They've witnessed you go up against so much, and so they expect you to be able to fight back. Targeting the people who mean the most to you, you're children, gives them something to start a war over, which is ultimately what they want."

The room went still. I don't think one of us was breathing at that moment. It was horrible, the cold realisation that something was really out to kill Carrie and Sam. Claire and Eve looked about ready to cry, and honestly, I half expected them to completely lose it and start screaming. In a way, that would have been easier to deal than the deafening silence that had settled over us.

The phone went dead. We all sat there staring holes through it. Michael and me were both shaking with range, and Claire and Eve were both shaking with fear.

Eve looked up, suddenly. "What if we offer our own blood?"

**Sorry to end it in a weird place, but there was another three pages to this chapter that did nothing for the story, so I deleted them. The next chapter will lead directly on from this one.**

**Please R&R – it's great hearing what you think, guys. I want to know if you like the story (it's okay to be brutally honest, but please don't be mean) and if you have any suggestions for the rest of it.**

**Love you to the moon and back **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

_**Claire's POV**_

I looked at Eve like she was crazy before what she said really sunk in.

_What if we offer our own blood?_

I met Shane's eyes; his expression was, as usual, unreadable. I'm pretty sure I looked scared half to death. He tried for a smile and it was comforting, but it quickly faded when his thoughts returned to the matter at hand. Michael, like Shane, had a blank expression, but his eyes told a completely different story. He was terrified but was trying his best not to show it.

There are dead ghost-vampires trying to get Carrie and Sam in a revenge operation against us: their parents. Saying I'm freaking out would be an understatement.

"We could try," I said and Eve looked hopeful, "I mean, what do we have to lose?"

"You mean besides everything?" Michael asked.

"We haven't got everything to lose, Michael. Eve's right, they want blood, so why not let it be ours? Would you rather it be Sam's?" I challenged stubbornly, knowing I'd get the last word.

"Claire they don't just want blood. They want a life. They want a life in exchange for the one we took away, and I'm pretty sure they don't want one of ours," he said sternly. I backed off and went to sit with Shane who was looking out the window, watching Carrie, a muscle twitching in his jaw.

He put his arm around me as I stood by his side. I leant into his embrace and tried to tell myself that this was just a dream, and I'd wake up safe in Shane's arms with Carrie jumping up and down on the bed and there would be no revenge-seeking vampire ghosts out to get us. The sensible, trying-to-stay-calm side of me knew that was wishful thinking, almost crazy thinking.

"I can't do this," Shane whispered so only I could hear. I looked at him and tried to work out what he was feeling. Those four words could have so many different meanings. He must have seen the confusion in my face because he nodded his head in the direction of Carrie, "I can't lose anyone else, Claire. Not you, not Carrie, not even Michael or Eve. I just can't do it."

"It's going to be okay," I said his line for him. He looked at me in disbelief, also confused in the switch of roles between us.

"You really believe that?" he asked.

"Yeah," I replied, and for the first time, I really kind of did believe it. "Shane, think of how many things we've been through, how many times we've been here, thinking it was the end and it turned out that it wasn't. We're going to be fine. We might not be fine tomorrow, or next week, or six months from now, but eventually we'll pull through. We always do. No one, and I mean, like, not even Bishop or werewolf-dogs or draug or ghosts or my parents can win when we're fighting and we want to win. I believe that. I believe in the four of us. I really do."

Shane just smiled at me and nodded in agreement. He looked back out the window, a light in his eyes that was only there when he was around Carrie.

"I hope you're right," he murmured.

"Of course I'm right," I tried at a joke, and I think it might have actually worked. He kissed me and it was a sweet moment. Just the two of us in our own little bubble of hope and happiness and belief. The world seemed right for a few moments, and we seemed invincible. We may have been as easy to break as glass, but we always pulled through. Who said this time had to be any different?

"You know what?" Eve spoke up angrily, making us jump, "Screw this. Screw these freaking vampire ghost things. I want to go shopping, and I know Carrie will want to go shopping, so Carrie and me are going to go shopping. Feel free to join us."

She stormed outside and made her way over to Carrie, who's face lit up at the idea of someone buying her even more stuff that she didn't need. We looked after Eve incredulously. We all watched as she held out her hand for Carrie and Sam came bounding up behind them.

"Looks like we're going shopping then," Michael muttered. I could hear the grin in what he said.

"Dammit, I don't even like shopping. Dude, tell your wife to get her own daughter instead of corrupting mine," Shane complained. He wasn't frowning, not really, but he'd scrunched his face up as if there was a bad smell. It was cute, and I had to hold in a giggle when he scrunched his face up even more, making him look like a five year old.

He gave Carrie a smile as she came running in. She launched herself at Shane, who caught her with ease.

"We're going shopping," she sang, bragging about it.

"Are you? That's nice," Shane replied.

"Come on, Carrie. Shopping doesn't wait forever, you know," Eve called from the hallway.

"Coming," she shouted back. Shane put her down and she ran into the hallway to meet Eve, brown pigtails whipping around her face.

"Hey, Eve, maybe you could get her a haircut while you're out," I called out the door.

"No!" Carrie screeched – literally screeched. She grabbed onto her hair in a protective way. "No, you can't cut it. It's mine!"

Eve took her hand and Carrie let herself be pulled away and to the car. Shane and me looked over at Michael. We weren't going with them. We were going to sit and figure out a way to fix this. Although, Michael looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.

Fifteen minutes later we were sat in the living room with my laptop open to make notes or do any research. Michael was leafing through book after book trying to find something that could help us find what we were looking for. So far, he hadn't had much luck. Shane was writing down a list of vampires we'd killed or hurt badly enough for them to want revenge. It wasn't long, but the vampires on there were ones we definitely didn't want to see again.

"Okay, Shane, what you got?" Michael asked after throwing another book on a growing pile.

"Um, well, I don't know if I have them all, and some of them I couldn't remember names for, but there's Bishop, Brandon, Ysandre and Gloriana at the top of the list. That vamp Claire killed at that party and a few others, and that's all I could remember that we've actually killed. We've hurt a lot more, like François and Morley and his gang but I can't imagine they'd be ghosts,"

"Brandon? We didn't kill him," Michael said.

"Yeah, but my dad and his buddies did, so I figure if anyone's out for unreasonable revenge it's Brandon," Shane replied bitterly.

"Okay, Claire?"

"Um, well you can't find much online because it's all old folk law and fairytales and stuff, and what isn't is blocked, but I did find something about them…I think. They're called Shadow People, right. Um, it says: '_Shadow People are known to be the dead undead out for revenge. They rarely go after the blood of the people who killed them, as they like to watch their victims suffer. Others can't see them and victims – _the people who can see them _– are often thought to be crazy and have been known to talk to thin air or stare into space for long periods of time. Shadow People do not work alone; they often gather numbers over time and seek revenge on small children because they are less likely to be able to fight back. Many have tried to overcome the Shadow People, but few have had success. It does not work to offer your own blood as the person who slaughtered the undead in the first place, although it is common that people try this in a hope to save his or her own. As they are often vampires, it is likely that methods used to kill vampires will also work on the Shadow People, although no hard evidence for this has ever been found.'_"

"_Often vampires_?" Shane quoted. I nodded in response. "So, they're not all vampires?"

"Well, no, but what else will they be?"

"Draug. Claire, Magnus was after you until you killed him. What if he's back?"

I stared at Shane knowing he was right. Just then, a cold breeze swept over me and I shivered. I wanted to cry. I wanted to curl up in a ball and have someone else deal with everything for once. If Magus was back and going after my daughter I don't know what I'd do.

"He can't be back. Draug surely don't count as the _undead_," I said, shakily, although I knew that they were actually just a different kind of vampire. So technically they were _undead_. Shane nodded and seemed to think about it, more out of comforting me than believing it.

"Yeah, you're right. They're water, not people."

But that didn't mean that what was after us was any nicer.


End file.
